The invention relates to a pipe organ and to a method for its operation, in particular to a method for the operation of a pipe organ having a plurality of pipes which are activated via valves, with at least one of the valves being provided as a valve actuated in multiple ways which can be controlled to open on the basis of at least two note demands, and to a corresponding pipe organ.
A distinction is made in classical organ building between a stop action and a note (key) action, with the pipes of the organs being controlled in a matrix scheme. As a rule, an organ comprises a plurality of claviatures (keyboards) which are activated by hand (manuals) and foot (pedals). In the present text, the term “key” will be used to designate the keys of a manual to be activated by the fingers and the keys of the pedal to be actuated by feet. As a rule, each keyboard has a “division” associated with it which comprises a number of pipes mounted on one or more windchests through which the air supply into the individual pipes is controlled.
FIG. 3 symbolizes this arrangement schematically for the example of a customary note channel windchest. Valves are arranged next to one another in the horizontal direction and are actuated, in the simplest case, directly by a key in the associated manual/pedal. If the valve is opened, air flows in a channel which is disposed behind/above it and is shown vertically in the scheme. Pipes of different timbre or pitch are located on this channel. Which of these sounds when the key is pressed depends on which stop is “pulled out” (switched). In the case of a slider chest, e.g. a strip of wood with holes opens all the pipes of one timbre. This is shown as follows, by way of example, in the scheme of FIG. 3, with the octave ranges being designated in the present text for better clarity as c0, c1, c2, etc. and not with the designations usual in music of C1, C, c, etc. An 8′ pipe (eight foot pipe) sounds in the normal range; a 4′ pipe (four foot pipe) one octave higher; and a 16′ pipe (sixteen foot pipe) one octave lower. If the 8′ stop has been pulled out (switched), the pipe with the pitch c1 sounds when the lowest c key (“c1”) is pressed. If the 4′ stop has been pulled out, the note c2 sounds, etc.
Generally, with this principle of construction there is at least one pipe per stop for each key. Keyboards can be connected to one another via optionally provided couplers so that e.g. the pipes associated with the second manual also sound when the first manual is being played. “Borrows” are also used which allow some pipes associated with one manual also to be used in other manuals through additional valves. Couplings are also known which are used within a division to actuate additional notes, for example at intervals of an octave.
In the course of development of organ making, different systems were developed which effect the connection between the key and the pipe using electromagnetic or pneumatic means or which combine mechanical, pneumatic and/or electrical actions with one another (e.g. because a plurality of mechanically coupled manuals can only be played with a large expenditure of force). The basic principle in the known systems can be found in the fixed association of key and stop, on the one hand, and pipe, on the other hand.
The construction of such an organ is very complex and/or expensive and contains a number of pipes in a plurality of configurations. The system of FIG. 3, for example, includes the pipe sounding as c2 both in the 8′ stop of the note c2 and in the 4′ stop of the note c1. Systems have been developed whose aim was also to create a similar sonority with a lower effort and/or cost. With so-called multiplex organs, the pipes can thus be controlled individually via a respective valve and, instead of stops, so-called stop knobs of pipe ranks are switched whose extent of notes goes beyond that of the keyboards. Such multiplex systems (also known as “units” in the English-speaking world) control different pipes of a pipe rank depending on which stop is switched, when a key is actuated. The octave positions 16′, 8′ and 4′ can thus be formed e.g. by stop knobs of the pipe rank.
FIG. 4 shows a scheme of such a multiplex organ. When the key c2 is pressed with a switched 8′ stop, the pipe c2 is adressed. If the 4′ stop is switched, the c3 pipe is also adressed; the 16′ stop adresses the c1 pipe.
Conflicts can arise with such multiplex organs if a pipe is adressed in different ways. In this connection, a so-called borrowing hole can occur when a pipe which should be played in the course of a sequence of notes does not respond audibly again because its valve had already been opened by a stop knob switching. In the scheme of FIG. 4, this situation would e.g. occur if the 4′ and 8′ stops are switched and the key c2 is held. In this case, pipes c2 and c3 sound. If now e.g. a scale from g2 to g3 is simultaneously played on another manual, the note c3 appears to be missing when it is played, because the pipe c3 does not respond again when the key is pressed because it is already sounding.
Valves which can be controlled to open in this respect due to at least two different note demands, are also called “valves actuated in multiple ways” for the purposes of the present text. The term “note demand” on a pipe is used when it results from corresponding settings on the console, key pressing, stop switches, etc. that the pipe should sound. The term “organ” does not only include the arrangement of the pipes, but the totality of the pipes, stops, etc. and their control units.
The construction principle of known electronic control systems comprises evaluating key information and stop information in a control unit and deriving control signals for stop pallets, valves or individual pipes from this. Optionally, a plurality of stop combinations (timbres) can be stored (“set”) before a performance and can be called up by the press of a button during the performance.
The known principle of electronic organ control systems will be explained with reference to FIG. 5. Information on pressed keys on the keyboards 220 and on switched stops 240 are first supplied at the console 340 via individual cables 320 to a control unit 100 which derives control signals, e.g. for stop magnets and valves, from it. The control information determined in this manner is e.g. converted with the help of an electronic multiplexer and is transmitted serially to the switch stage 102 via the common data line 104. The information obtained serially is converted there, e.g. with the help of an electronic demultiplexer, such that the information intended for the individual valves 160 can be given to the individual valves 160 via individual cables 300. A similar architecture is described in the German utility model DE 88 03 302 U1, with a light waveguide being used as a data line there.
The term of electronic multiplexer or demultiplexer used in connection with the data transfer is not to be confused with the term multiplex organ which is used in connection with organs and which is characterized by the possible use of a pipe for a plurality of different note demands.
A method for the operation of a pipe organ and a pipe are also known from DE 213077 C.